Walking is good for calf strain recovery, especially during the later stages of calf strain recovery.
However when you have a calf strain you should begin walking slowly and listen to your body and rest your injured leg and keep it elevated initially.
Then as you start to recover you can begin walking slowly which can help you recover from calf strains and prevent stiffness as well.
When your calf pain is serious the calf pain will be sudden, severe or unexplained.
Other signs that your calf pain are serious are difficulty in bearing weight on the leg that is affected with the calf pain as well as numbness, tenderness, redness and swelling.
If you have any of these symptoms with the calf pain you should seek medical attention.
If your calf pain is intense and comes on suddenly, the calf pain could mean that you have a blood clot or muscle tear which can be a serious condition.
Sometimes calf pain is a sign of a more serious issue like blood vessel problems in your legs.
You can walk with a torn calf muscle although walking with a torn calf muscle can be very painful and difficult, especially if the torn calf muscle is very severe.
A complete tear of the calf muscle can even prevent you from being able to bear any weight on the leg.
Mild tears of the calf muscle can allow for some walking with some pain and severe calf muscle tears can cause difficulty in walking and severe pain.
A torn calf muscle is often extremely painful although the pain from a torn calf muscle can range from a sharp and sudden pain to a more persistent and throbbing pain.
The actual severity of the torn calf muscle pain will also depend on how bad the calf muscle is torn.
Complete torn calf muscle tears also known as grade 3 calf muscle strains cause more intense pain than less severe torn calf muscles.
Severely torn calf muscles can even make it difficult to bear weight on the affected leg.
You can often tell if a calf muscle is torn or pulled by the symptoms which are often different.
A calf muscle that is pulled also known as a calf muscle tear will cause sudden, sharp pain that is often accompanied by a popping sensation or snapping sensation.
A calf muscle that is torn is also known a severe tear to the calf muscle will often involve swelling that is significant as well as bruising and difficulty in walking.
A minor calf muscle strain often causes temporary pain without affecting your normal activities.
In most cases a torn calf muscle often causes sudden, intense pain in the back of your lower leg, and is often accompanied by a snapping sensation or pooping sensation.
With a torn calf muscle you may also experience bruising and swelling and have difficulty putting weight on the affected leg.
In most cases you can treat a pulled calf muscle at home with some rest, hot packs and cold packs, compression and elevation.
You may also want to take some over the counter pain medications to help with the pain from the torn calf muscle.
Although if the calf muscle injury is more severe or the pain or swelling doesn't go away or get worse you should see a doctor or go to urgent care or the hospital to be safe.
Most times the calf tear will heal on it's own although the healing time and potential for complications from the calf tear will also depend on the severity of the calf muscle tear.
A mild calf strain will often heal within a few weeks with the use of rest, ice, compression and elevation.
More severe calf tears may take longer than a few weeks or even a few months to heal and may require more aggressive treatment including physical therapy and in some cases surgery.